30 THE EEPOET OF THE ^o. 36 



NOTES ON" THE SEASON OE 1910. 

 Eev, Thomas W. Fyles, D.C.L,, Hull, Que. 



The season of 1910 has been a very fine one, interrupted, however, with heavy 

 thunderstorms. Some interesting species of insects have come under my notice in 

 the course of the season. 



EucosMA ScuDDEEiANA, Clemens The galls of Eucosma scudderiana have 

 been very abundant. They begin to appear on the Golden Eod early in June. 

 They are somewhat irregular in shape, and are covered with a rusty-looking scurf. 



The larva is greenish-white. Its head is of a dark madder-brown; and the 

 plate on the second segment is spotted with brown. On the body are numerous 

 oval tubercles or plates. The spiracles are small and brown. 



This species continues in the larval stage through the winter, and does not 

 go into pupa till May. I have opened galls in March and April and found the 

 larvae active. They feed on the pith above and below their galls. The moths 

 appear at the end of May. 



Holland, in his beautiful and very useful work, " The Moth Book," telling of 

 Eucosma scudderiana^ says — 



" The insect is not uncommon in western Pennsylvania, and is possibly an in- 

 quiline or intruder in the galls which are produced by another species, Gnorimo- 

 scJiema gallce-solidaginis, Eiley." — The Moth Booh, p. 418. 



The author is mistaken here. The galls of G. gallce-solidaginis begin to ap- 

 pear at the same time as those of scudderiana, at a time when the moths of both 

 p])ecie3 have passed away. It is not likely that a scudderiana larva would leave its 

 own gall to go in search of one of the other kind. 



The galls of G. galla'soUdaginis may be readily known: they are of the shape 

 of a half-grown turnip-radish; and they have not the rusty apearance of the Eucosma 

 gall. The moths from them appear in the month of August. 



Tetrastichus gelechiae, Aslmiead. I have found two' galls of G. gallcB- 

 solidaginis this season — one at Abercorn in the eastern townships, and the other at 

 Hull — in which the pupse appeared abnormally large. By aid of the microscope I 

 found tliat the enlargement was caused by the closely-packed chrysalids of a parasite 

 Tetrastichus gelechice. The flies in due time appeared. 



Camponotus pennsylvanicus, DeGeer. On June 14th — a very hot da}^ — 

 there was a remarkable flight of the large, black Carpenter Ants {Camponotus 

 pennsylvanicus) . The creatures were everywhere in the streets of Hull; but they 

 were not abundant long, for the sparrows regarded a Black Ant as a lonne louche, 

 and banquetted upon the unexpected provision to their hearts' content. Useful 

 sparrows! May the memory of Colonel Ehodes, who introduced them to Canada, 

 be honoured ! 



A Strange Butterfly. On August 8th I captured a curious melanic form of 

 Argynnis myrina, Cramer. Both the primaries and secondaries of this insect were 

 suffused on the upper side with sooty black; but in the secondaries the inner mar- 

 gins, and a few spots in the centre of each, were of the normal color. On the 

 under side the primaries were dusky brick red, with sooty black patches between 

 the veins. The marginal silvery spots appeared. The secondaries on the under 

 side were of a rich chocolate red. The black spot towards the base of each was en- 

 closed by a narrow silvery ring. The spots were as usual. The body was black 

 above and yellow beneath. 



MONONYCHUS vuLPECULus, Fab. At Quyon, Province Quebec, on August 17th, 

 I found that the seed-pods of the Blue Flag (7m versicolor) were much infested 



